Carlo Bellario

Comedian/Actor Carlo Bellario got caught up on the wrong side of New Jersey’s stringent gun laws. Last year while performing the role of a drug dealer’s body guard for an independent film he was arrested. The charge was related to the toy pellet gun he was using as a prop for the film role. The gun was an airsoft toy (available at sporting goods stores across NJ) but without the orange tip required on toy guns in New Jersey, it looked real to the neighbors who called police. On Monday this week Carlo accepted a plea deal from the prosecutor and was sentenced to two years probation.

On last night’s Chasing News, we were joined by actor/comedian Carlo Bellario to discuss the latest in his ongoing legal troubles.

Bellario said the situation had been very hard for him, and he was at a loss for what to do. He recalled the story of his arrest. Carlo showed up at an independent film set in Woodbridge to shoot a scene in which he played a gunman. Carlo says he was handed a gun that he says was described by production staff as a prop gun. Middlesex County Prosecutors say that the gun was in fact a real and operational pellet gun, illegal by New Jersey State law. When residents witnessed the filming, they called police, and Carlo was arrested. It’s unknown whether the film producer had secured the permits to shoot.

Yesterday was a big day for Carlo Bellario. He’s a New Jersey actor/comedian who’s facing the possibility of a ten-year prison sentence for running afoul of Jersey’s gun laws. Of course, the charges involve a toy. Specifically, an airsoft gun that can be bought in just about any sporting goods store in Jersey. The law that has gotten Carlo in trouble is the Graves Act. It goes back to 1981 and was intended to set mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed with a firearm. Later, the law was amended to include gang activity and today the interpretation from prosecutors includes the act of simple possession.